With the 2024 NFL Draft now in the books, hundreds of undrafted players have signed free-agent deals with franchises. Of course, this is a familiar path to the league for anyone who has followed Texas Tech football as several former Red Raiders have had success at the game's top level despite not being drafted.
Current Dallas Cowboys starting right tackle Terence Steele is one of those success stories. Despite being undrafted in 2020, he has made a nice career for himself after signing a five-year, $86.8 million contract extension in 2023.
In 2013 Cody Davis, the safety from Stephenville, Texas who starred at Texas Tech, signed with the St. Louis Rams after not being taken in the draft. He would go on to play 11 years in the NFL, mostly as a special teams ace. Spending time with the Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars, and New England Patriots he racked up 118 tackles in his career.
In 2008, slot receiver Danny Amendola was undrafted. He signed with the Dallas Cowboys but was cut in training camp. Fortunately, he would catch on with the Rams in 2009 and that would be the beginning of a career that would see him catch 617 passes for 6,212 yards and 24 TDs while also amassing 5,450 kick return yards over the course of 13 NFL seasons.
While Amendola had a memorable career, the gold standard for undrafted free agents (at least as far as Texas Tech alums go) is Wes Welker. Not selected in the 2004 draft, he would go on to post 9,924 career yards and 50 touchdowns on 903 receptions during his 12-year career.
Will any of this year's undrafted free agent Red Raiders go on to have the type of careers that the players mentioned above have? That seems a bit unlikely but several will get their chance to make it on Sundays. Here's a look at where Texas Tech's undrafted players have landed in the NFL.
Austin McNamara | Punter |
|---|---|
Cincinnati Bengals | Undrafted Free Agent |
If there is one player from Texas Tech's undrafted free agent class that seems like the best bet to have a lengthy NFL career, it would be punter Austin McNamara. He has signed with the Cincinnati Bengals, a team that saw Brad Robbins struggle as its punter in 2023.
McNamara is arguably the best punter in Texas Tech history. Playing five years for the Red Raiders, he had a career average of 45.9 yards per punt, the highest in Texas Tech and Big 12 Conference history.
In 2023, McNamara averaged a whopping 46.3 yards on 55 kicks. That was tied for the second-best average of his career behind the 48.2 yards per kick he averaged in 2021.
A three-time All-Big 12 honoree, McNamara was the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year this past season. Now, he has landed with a NFL Team that is looking for an upgrade at his position.